Religious Trial
"Hmm...?"
Inside the carriage returning to the estate, Heinkel's eyes narrowed as he looked toward the distant Leinrant Estate.
'Well now... would you look at that?'
Following Heinkel's gaze toward the estate gates, I immediately understood why.
An unfamiliar—no, to me, more familiar than anything else—flag was fluttering in the wind.
A black banner with a sun cross emblazoned at its center.
And wrapped around that cross was the symbol of a serpent.
"The Order... and not just any branch. The headquarters of the Inquisition itself has come."
At those words, Delline's eyes widened as he lifted the carriage curtain to look outside.
"This is insane...!"
"Why are those bastards here again...?!"
The moment Heinkel recognized the emblem on the flag, he ground his teeth.
It was an expression of anger he rarely showed.
The Inquisition—the highest enforcement authority of the Holy Order of Saint Kerdias.
To Leinrant, they were no different from calamities that brought disaster upon the family.
'They arrived faster than I expected.'
That was what I thought as the estate drew closer.
Countless inquisitors and clergy members of the Order.
And before the estate gates, the knights of the main family who had emerged from inside were locked in a tense standoff with them.
"I sense mana fluctuations. I'm not sure whether they're coming from the knights or the inquisitors, but..."
The moment Delline said that, Heinkel immediately made his decision.
"The situation is urgent. Dunkel!"
"I'll break straight through them. Hold tight!"
At those words, Dunkel cracked the reins hard, and Heinkel immediately pulled Priscilla into his arms to steady her.
"Hyah—!"
The moment Dunkel shouted, the carriage surged forward in an instant.
"Wh-What the hell is that?!"
"The carriage is charging at us! Everyone move! Move aside!"
The gathered inquisitors hurriedly split left and right, and the carriage burst through the middle, separating the two sides.
"That carriage—!"
"His Grace has returned!"
Unlike the startled inquisitors, the knights' expressions brightened the moment they saw the carriage.
"What is the meaning of this disturbance?!"
Heinkel stepped out of the carriage immediately and raised his voice.
"To draw weapons in the North, and in front of the Leinrant Estate no less!"
"Ghk?"
"It's Duke Heinkel. Everyone stand down!"
It seemed the two sides had already clashed once, as both the knights and inquisitors already had their weapons drawn.
The inquisitors' vigilance rose another level the moment they recognized Heinkel's face.
"Duke Heinkel Leinrant."
The situation was on the verge of exploding.
The one who loosened the taut thread of tension with his voice was the man who called out Heinkel's name.
"It has been a long time since I last saw your face."
The gathered inquisitors parted to either side, and a man with messy ash-gray hair slowly stepped forward.
Chain mail and gauntlets could be seen beneath his priestly robes.
A face twisted by burn scars and a long scar running across one eye.
Rather than a clergyman, he looked more like a bandit who had stolen a priest's clothing.
"Yes. It has indeed been a long time."
Seeing him, Heinkel bared his teeth as he spoke.
"Director Ben Drake."
At those words, the hand Priscilla had placed on my shoulder tightened.
Ben Drake.
The warden of Kripel Heretic Reformation Center, a prison for religious criminals located in the far east of the Holy Nation.
The gray mad dog of the Order that hunted down heretics.
And the very man who had thrown me into the reformation center when I was only three years old.
"I had thought all matters between Leinrant and your Order had already been settled."
At Ben's gesture, the inquisitors lowered their weapons.
Fresh blood splattered here and there made it clear they had killed people not long ago.
"Settled? What a disappointing thing to say."
Though he answered Heinkel's question, his eyes constantly darted around as if searching for something.
'He's probably looking for me.'
That was what I thought as I stared at the scar across his eye.
"We have heard that Young Master Klein used necromancy during this civil war."
As expected, that was the excuse they had come with.
The necromancy I had repeatedly used in the battle against Helian.
Rumors had spread among the surviving soldiers, so naturally the Order would hear of it as well.
'Or perhaps that bastard Palliman tipped them off.'
As I was thinking that, Heinkel narrowed his eyes and questioned him.
"It was agreed that Father Garrison would monitor Klein, and that all matters regarding this child would be left buried."
"Yes. I remember it clearly as well."
Even before the killing intent radiating from the continent's strongest swordsman, Ben remained calm.
If anything, he even bared his yellowed fangs toward Heinkel.
"Sinner Klein Leinrant shall, under the supervision of Acting Agent Garrison Berkman, be transferred to protective observation status."
That had been the verdict the Order passed down on me back then.
A three-year-old child who had done nothing.
Yet they called him a sinner.
The reincarnation of Archimond .
The Order had reacted that excessively even to the ramblings of a mere toddler.
"However, Father Garrison is currently being detained by our side."
Unexpected information caused Heinkel to frown.
"An acting agent of the Order has been imprisoned in the reformation center?"
"Yes."
The expression on Ben's face as he answered Heinkel was unmistakably mocking.
"He betrayed the Order during his mission and assaulted one of our cardinals. He is currently undergoing a religious trial."
Hearing those words, I quietly clicked my tongue.
'That damned bastard.'
Cardinal Palliman El, who had vanished in a flash of brilliant light.
He had claimed our meeting never happened, only to pull strings behind the scenes like this.
'Looks like he's getting desperate. If he's willing to arrest even an acting agent just to secure me.'
His intentions in trying to drag me back into the reformation center were obvious.
He wanted the knowledge of Archimond stored inside my head.
"Therefore, his position as acting agent has been suspended. And Young Master Klein, whom he had been monitoring, has returned to our jurisdiction."
Returned.
As though my rightful place had never been this ducal house, but a prison cell in the reformation center.
"No."
Perhaps Heinkel felt the same implication, because he immediately drew his sword and slashed it horizontally across the ground.
Kagagagak—!
"... Huh?"
Ben's expression twisted strangely, clearly caught off guard by Heinkel's actions.
A long line had been carved into the ground between the inquisitors and the estate.
Sensing that the situation had become dangerous, Ben also immediately raised his hand.
"Are you rejecting the Order's decision?"
Bloodstained crosses and maces emerged from their hands.
With eyes sunken heavily into darkness, Heinkel spoke to them.
"This is the land of the North. And it is my territory."
The moment Heinkel said that, the knights also drew their swords in unison and aimed them toward the inquisitors.
Shrrrk—!
"And yet you dare say you'll take Leinrant's son away in front of the Duke of Leinrant himself?"
At the words of the man who ruled Leinrant, the knights' swords grew even sharper with killing intent.
"Go ahead, then. Try it if you can."
"Wh-What?"
The moment Heinkel openly resisted him, cracks finally appeared in the composure Ben had been desperately maintaining.
"If you wish to take Klein away, then you will first have to defeat me."
"You...!"
Crunch!
As things stopped going his way, the sound of Ben grinding his teeth echoed out.
"Don't worry, Klein."
As though trying to reassure me, Priscilla spoke.
"Unlike last time, we'll protect you this time."
Protect me.
Hearing those words made me laugh without realizing it.
'Who exactly is protecting who?'
Against the branch families, against Helian, against the Empire.
Leinrant, which had once struggled merely to survive against everything surrounding it, had now finally risen to its feet.
It had become capable of standing proudly and fighting back against the malice directed toward it.
'But not yet.'
I appreciated them stepping forward to protect me, but reality wasn't that simple.
The aftermath of the civil war still hadn't been fully resolved, nor had the newly acquired territory been properly stabilized.
If they openly opposed the Order to protect me under such circumstances, it would only increase the danger.
"I should go."
As I said that, I removed Priscilla's hand from my shoulder.
"Klein...?"
"You're going? In this situation, where exactly do you think you're—?!"
Priscilla and Delline both tried to stop me, but I ignored them and jumped out of the carriage.
"Hey, mad dog!"
Raising my voice, I called out the name of that disgusting bastard.
"?!"
"Klein, why are you...?!"
Startled by my sudden shout, the eyes of both groups locked in confrontation all turned toward me.
"You look a lot healthier than before. Did the Pope toss you a bone or something?"
A casual voice that carried not the slightest trace of fear.
"Y-Young Master Klein?"
"Has he lost his mind? Speaking to the Director like that...!"
My voice calling the infamous prison director a mad dog.
The inquisitors escorting him began murmuring amongst themselves as though suffering collective cognitive dissonance.
Thud—!
Meanwhile, Ben, having heard my call, lifted the mace hanging at his waist and slammed it onto the ground once.
"Klein Leinrant..."
I walked toward Ben as he growled my name like a wild dog.
And then—
"Hah. Look at this bastard."
Tap, tap.
I raised my fist and lightly thumped his growling chest twice.
"You should be calling me 'Young Master.'"
"...!"
"What, did eight years apart make you forget your place?"
As I mocked him with a grin spread across my face, the fist gripping his mace trembled.
But only for a moment.
"Hah... Hahaha! Hahahahaha—!"
After looking at my face, Ben burst into loud laughter as though finally satisfied.
"Yes! It truly has been a long time, Young Master Klein."
A sinister laugh accompanied by killing intent slowly crawling upward.
"Since you've revealed yourself willingly, I'll personally escort you away. You have no objections, correct?"
The moment his words ended, the inquisitors began approaching me.
"These bastards!"
"Who gave you permission to take Young Master Klein away?!"
While the knights blocked the approaching inquisitors—
"Klein!"
Heinkel grabbed my shoulder as I walked forward, trying to stop me.
"This time, you do not need to go. You do not have to sacrifice yourself for the family anymore...!"
"I'm not going because I'm forced to. And I'm not sacrificing myself for the family either."
At my words, Heinkel, who had been about to say more, closed his mouth.
"I said it before Mother's grave. That I would make Leinrant the ruler of the North."
I had made that promise to them.
In the name of Klein Leinrant.
In the name of their greatest enemy, Archimond .
"I'm going to keep that promise. Please allow me to."
With a faint smile on my face, I said those words.
The certainty written across my expression made Heinkel's face twist.
"... Can you return alive?"
As though finally making up his mind, he asked me that question.
"Without fail."
"I understand."
The moment I answered, Heinkel no longer tried to stop me.
"Young Master...!"
"You don't have to go! We can—!"
The knights who had opened the path at my command called out anxiously.
"It's fine. I'm not going there to die."
But I reassured them with a smile and followed the inquisitors' guidance.
Clank—!
An escort carriage made from a special material designed to block the flow of mana.
I sat right in the middle of it and grumbled.
"Ugh, the ride quality on this carriage is awful."
Then, through the still-open door, Ben revealed himself and spoke.
"We'll see how long that calm attitude lasts, Young Master Klein."
Looking at me with eyes full of mockery, Ben licked his lips and leaned his face closer.
"The moment you enter the reformation center, you will—!"
Tap.
I placed my fist on his shoulder once more as he threatened me.
"Lower your eyes, you son of a bitch. Before I crush the one you've got left."
"Grrr...!"
At his furious roar, the carriage finally began moving.
"Hoo."
Watching the estate slowly grow farther away, I quietly spoke toward empty space.
"Hold back until we arrive, Arin."
At those words, my shadow, which had been writhing restlessly, finally became still.
"Once I rescue that damned priest... I'll let you eat your fill then."
Seeing me sneer right to the end seemed to infuriate him further, and with a violent motion, he slammed the iron carriage door shut.
Bang—!
"To the reformation center! Move out!"
At his furious command, the carriage began moving once more.
"Hoo."
Watching the estate slowly recede into the distance, I quietly spoke into the air again.
"Hold back until we arrive, Arin."
At those words, my violently writhing shadow stopped moving.
"Once I rescue that damned priest... then I'll feed you to your heart's content."